Call for Solar Facts & Summer Fiction

It’s that time of year again: U.S. 1 is soliciting submissions for its annual Summer Fiction issue, to be published July 25. As always we are encouraging readers of this newspaper — people who work or live in the greater Princeton business community — to submit their short stories, poems, or short plays.

As always, we remind you that this is not a contest. We instead hope to present a representative sampling of what our creative colleagues produce — when they are not strapped to their office desks cranking out quarterly reports or lab analyses.

And, as always, we urge you to include with your submission a brief biographical sketch. Where you work and what you do are important to us. For more information on the issue, including the deadline see the notice on page 26 of this issue. (Short answer: Monday, June 11. E-mail to fiction@princetoninfo.com.)

We look forward to reading your work and eventually meeting you in person at our writers’ reception in August.

To the Editor:

Solar Concerns

Smarter Solar NJ is encouraged by Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes’ recommendation that groundbreaking be delayed on the proposed solar power facility at Mercer County Community College so that resident concerns can be considered (U.S. 1, May 9).

Our group has been continuously frustrated by a lack of engagement by MCCC, which could not have handled the communication about this project any more poorly. The school has gone so far as to refuse to meet with residents on the grounds that it “would not be productive.”

We are eager to have a meaningful public dialogue on the project. We strongly support the resolution passed unanimously by West Windsor’s Town Council and endorsed by Mayor Hsueh that requests a courtesy review of the proposal before the township’s planning board.

We don’t need to be “presented to” again. We need a real discussion of the plan that includes independent experts.

A risky $40 million capital project involving the destruction of 67 acres of agricultural land deserves a true public hearing.

This solar proposal is an important issue not just for our small block on South Post Road, but also for the hundreds of West Windsor and Mercer County residents who have signed a petition opposing the project.

Smarter Solar NJ encourages Mercer County and MCCC to respect the township’s request for an open discussion, and would welcome an opportunity to meet with the county executive directly to explore the issues. To learn more about our group, please visit www.SmarterSolarNJ.com.